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Not all festivals imagine young people in the same way: some reserve an audience for them, others entrust them with a responsibility. TaobukTeen belongs to the second category and tries to overturn the script: it does not ask students to witness the culture, but to go through it, to enter inside it, to measure it with their own gaze. The difference is all there: assist or participate. Within the program that Taobuk 2026 dedicates to trust, the project for schools coordinated by Marcella Natale builds a path that brings together reading, writing, training, media literacy and direct participation in the life of the festival, transforming girls and boys into readers, reviewers, interlocutors of the authors and active part of the festival.
For the little ones, from primary to lower secondary schools, the “Thoughts in flight” contest proposed a reflection on trust through texts, images and personal feedback. After a training phase for teachers, the classes transformed reading into an exercise in imagination and critical thinking.
For high school students the heart remains “Adopt an author”: not passive reading but a path of interpretation through reviews, video content and direct comparison with books. The authors involved are Barbara Bellomo with The Orange Wrapper (Garzanti), Matteo Saudino with Fragile Souls (Einaudi), Elvira Seminara with Lunario dei giorni insomni (Einaudi) and Nicola Gardini with The most beautiful novel in the world (Garzanti).
Alongside the reading itineraries, the festival has also activated school-work courses for students aged between 16 and 18 involved in hospitality, communication, press office and editorial projects.
Yesterday the topic of trust went through different meetings. At Palazzo Corvaja Barbara Bellomo, in dialogue with the Gazzetta del Sud journalist Natalia La Rosa, head of the GDS Academy, opened the Taobuk Teen events, describing through The Orange Wrapper a trust far from naivety: «Opening up means accepting the possibility of error but also making change possible». In the novel, trust is intertwined with the themes of women’s emancipation and the freedom to choose one’s own destiny.
Matteo Saudino’s reasoning is more explicitly political: «I place my trust in the male and female students. Today hope must also become a political sentiment again.” For the philosopher, trust is built through shared responsibility and a different posture of adults: fewer lessons from above, more authentic listening and the ability to leave space. However, I struggle to recognize the same trust in the global ruling classes, which often appear aged compared to the challenges of the present and too closed in on themselves.”
In collaboration with the University of Messina, also present in Taobuk with a large team of interns, the day ended with “This Constitution is a spectacle”, a project presented by Giulio Biino and Fabrizio Olivero with an introduction by Antonio Saitta. «More than a lesson on the Constitution – said Biino – a show built to transform principles and articles into stories capable of speaking to children». Video, music, poetry and writing accompany a story that returns constitutional values as a human experience: the presumption of innocence passes through Enzo Tortora, the right to defense through Fulvio Croce.
Today the journey continues with Elvira Seminara (Palazzo Corvaja, 3pm, in dialogue with Patrizia Danzè and the introduction by Stefania Rimini). An important moment will be the dialogue between students and the minister Paolo Zangrillo on Saturday at 11am at Palazzo Corvaja, who will illustrate the Gen PA project. Closing on Monday 22 June, at 6.30pm, in the Garden of Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano with Nicola Gardini and his return to the Odyssey.
«The presence and enthusiasm of the students give color and energy to Taobuk: not spectators but creators of content – observes Marcella Natale – The kids didn’t just read the books: they experienced them and returned them with thoughts and reflections on a decisive word like trust».